Exemption
April 15, 2014
There was a murder on union street
I am the one who finds him
Left behind
On the cold sidewalk
Motionless shadow
His black blending into the darkness
Only the sheen of cheek
Gives him away
Did anyone watch
from the wire
the half closed windows
in this sanitary section of town
Yet remain
Unseen
By Those stumbling through
The 2 am hour
I stare down at him
the disheveled heap
sprawled at my feet
An untouchable
A crushed velvet disgrace
His cracked blue-black mouth
A howl locked in rigor
The harsh secret
Echoes in the morning after
I must lay him down
in the garden
a potter’s field
locked between church walls
and choir verses
only then will
your Dead silence
bring me restful sleep
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